No Ski Day Trip to Breckenridge, CO
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There are plenty of family-friendly winter activities to enjoy in Breckenridge, Co without hitting the ski-slopes. We recently did a day trip from Colorado Springs to the Breckenridge, CO area for some family fun. We left really early (before 5 am) and were home in time for dinner. You could easily grab lodging for a night to reduce your daily drive time, but we loved the flexibility of just going up for the day.
Masks are required indoors in Summit County.
The first thing to consider is the drive. I-70 has (always has been perhaps) a bit of a nightmare, but it is still the fastest way into the mountains. We avoided I-70 in the morning and instead headed up 24, it was snowing and the plows were just hitting the road, making for a slow drive, but one in which we kept moving, instead of sitting in bumper to bumper I-70 ski traffic.
Our first stop was Good Times Adventure Tours for Dog Sledding. They also do snowmobile tours, but some of our kids are too little. (Jeff is going up in a few weeks to give it a try.) Advanced reservations are required for all of their tours and they do book up quickly. They have a morning and afternoon go and the tours last about an hour and a half. They do not allow children under 4 or pregnant-women on the tours.
You start by meeting the dogs and learning about how to drive the sled. Each group goes out with a team of dogs, a sled, and a snowmobile pulling another sled. You rotate dog sled drivers and riders depending on the type of terrain. Everyone who wants to drive or ride gets multiple turns. (Watch the Big Little drive the dog sled.)
The big mistake we made with this tour was not having hand and foot warmers. (You can purchase hand and foot warmers at the Good Times front desk, we also found them at the Frisco Walmart.) An hour and a half is a long time to be out in the elements. We had the morning tour and it was COLD. The kids had a great time for the first hour and then they were just cold! We opted to cut our tour short (we made it just over an hour) and head back to the lodge to get warm.
Next we headed into the town of Frisco to walk around and find some lunch. You could also head in to Breckenridge, although it tends to get quite crowded with skiers, where as Frisco is a bit more laid back.
Our plan was to grab lunch at Highside Brewing & BBQ. This brewery has a great vibe and an amazing-looking menu. They open at 11am, but due to a staffing shortage couldn’t serve food until 12:15, which was too close to our tubing hill reservation. The Brewery also has a bunch of games upstairs. It looks like it would have been a super fun lunch, and we were crushed that it didn’t work out. We grabbed some food at one of the many other places in town.
In Frisco, we did pop into Next Page Books & Nosh, an adorable bookstore, and coffee shop. I wish we had more time to explore. I did grab a latte though.
Just down the road from downtown is the Frisco Adventure Park. We had an afternoon reservation on the tubing hill. Make sure you have your phone/camera because the view from the top of the sledding hid is just amazing.
This was the highlight of our trip. Yes, the dog sled was amazing and cute and fun. The Tubing hill was just so much fun. Our kids are exactly the right age to just enjoy every moment. We had a one-hour reservation and it was plenty of time. Each run, from the bottom back up to the top, takes about 8 minutes. (Watch the Big Little and I complete one run. )
The magic carpet that takes you to the top of the hill is clutch. The kids usually get so tired and complain but it was a nice rest and easy way to head back up to the top.
In this same plaza is a free sledding hill. We were too exhausted to give it a try, but it looked amazing. If you don’t have a sled the Frisco Walmart sells them.
Y’all we were so exhausted that after an hour of tubing we got into the car to head back home. We should have hit the whole foods in Frisco (behind the Walmart) for some extra car snacks because we got caught in some I70 traffic on our way home, but we survived and made it home in time for dinner.
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